Optical image processing systems find use in many industrial tasks. A central problem of many imaging systems is correct illumination of the target. Common problems with existing illuminators or illumination systems are illumination uniformity, consistent illumination direction across the target, illuminator efficiency, and illuminator size. As the area being inspected increases, these problems with existing illumination systems becomes much more intractable.
A common application for optical image processing is the inspection of printed circuit boards such as those found in computers and mobile devices. A typical application of optical image processing systems includes detecting the presence or absence of an electrical component on the circuit board and detection of a proper solder joint at the proper location on the component. The system described could as easily be applied to illumination of other objects of interest, such as semiconductor wafers, web processed materials, or mechanical piece parts, for example.